2 Corinthians 7:8-11

7:8 For even if I made you sad ¹  by my letter, ²  I do not regret having written it ³  (even though I did regret it, ⁴  for ⁵  I see that my letter made you sad, ⁶  though only for a short time). 7:9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, ⁷  but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, ⁸  so that you were not harmed ⁹  in any way by us. 7:10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 7:11 For see what this very thing, this sadness ¹⁰  as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, ¹¹  what indignation, ¹²  what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, ¹³  what punishment! ¹⁴  In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

¹ tn Grk “if I grieved you.”

² sn My letter. Paul is referring to the “severe” letter mentioned in 2 Cor 2:4.

³ tn Grk “I do not regret”; direct objects in Greek must often be supplied from the context. Here one could simply supply “it,” but since Paul is referring to the effects of his previous letter, clarity is improved if “having written it” is supplied.

⁴ tn Grk “I did regret”; the direct object “it” must be supplied from the context.

⁵ tc A few important mss (Ì^46c B D* it sa) lack γάρ (gar, “for”), while the majority of witnesses have it (א C D¹ F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï sy bo). Even though Ì^46* omits γάρ, it has the same sense (viz., a subordinate clause) because it reads the participle βλέπων (blepwn, “seeing”; the Vulgate does the same). A decision is difficult because although the overwhelming external evidence is on the side of the conjunction, the lack of γάρ is a significantly harder reading, for the whole clause is something of an anacoluthon. Without the conjunction, the sentence reads more harshly. This would fit with Paul’s “vehemence of spirit” (A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 435) that is found especially in 2 Corinthians and Galatians. However, the mss that omit the conjunction are prone to such tendencies at times. In this instance, the conjunction should probably stand.

⁶ tn Grk “my letter grieved you.”

⁷ tn Grk “were grieved” (so also twice later in the verse).

⁸ tn Grk “corresponding to God,” that is, corresponding to God’s will (κατὰ θεόν, kata qeon). The same phrase occurs in vv. 10 and 11.

⁹ tn Grk “so that you did not suffer loss.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “this very thing, to be grieved.”

¹¹ tn The words “of yourselves” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

¹² sn What indignation refers to the Corinthians’ indignation at the offender.

¹³ tn Or “what zeal.”

¹⁴ sn That is, punishment for the offender.